Curran and Seaton - Power and Media Industries

• Media Conglomerate - a large corporation which consists of many smaller companies, all of which work towards producing profit from producing, distributing, marketing and exhibiting media products
• Monopoly - the exclusive possession or control of the supply of or trade in a commodity or service.
• Vertical integration - when a media company buys companies to complete the chain of production, marketing, distribution and exhibition, for example, Disney.
• Horizontal integration - a company takes over another that operates at the same level of the value chain in an industry.
• Public service broadcaster - broadcasting made, financed and controlled by the public, for the public. It is neither commercial nor state-owned, free from political interference and pressure from commercial forces. Through PSB, citizens are informed, educated and also entertained. Broadcasters are Channel 3 services, Channel 4 &% and the BBC.
• Free market capitalism - unregulated economic system which is based solely off the supply and demand of products.

Curran and Seaton

-          The idea that the media is controlled by a small number of companies who, for the most part, are driven by money and power

-          Curran and Seaton state that such media concentration limits variety, creativity and quality

-          The counterpoint is that more socially diverse ownership would allow more varies and adventurous media productions

-          Curran and Seaton argue that the media industry follows the normal capitalist pattern of increasing concentration of ownership into fewer and fewer hands. Media brands are taken over by large companies who, in their turn, are absorbed by even larger companies.

This leads to a narrowing of the range of options presented. The conglomerates are in a position to control the media messages and content delivered to the audience. To maintain their power, they need money. Therefore, they will prioritise money over creativity.

Political and Economic contexts of LFTVD

The UK

• Up until 1955, the BBC had a monopoly over television production and circulation.
• This meant that the public service broadcaster did not face any competition and could impose Reithian values of 'inform, educate and entertain.'
• Political pressure led to calls for competition in broadcasting, leading to the introduction of ITV in 1955 and Channel 4 in 1982.
• What are the drawbacks of competition?
• Audience shared amongst broadcasters
• What are the benefits of competition?
• More impetus to create quality programming - audience benefits more
• Drive to improve business model by introducing vertical and horizontal integration and new technologies.
• Ultimately, the BBC, along with commercial channels, commission most of their production to independent/subsidiary companies:
• Have I Got News For You - Hat Trick Productions
• QI - Thames
• Would I Lie to You - Zeppotron
• These independent companies are almost always owned by a larger company which is owned by a larger company, and so on.
• This reflects Curran and Seaton's idea that political and economic contexts based on capitalism leads to the increasing concentration of ownership in fewer and fewer hands.

However:

• In the UK, there is still the mediating force of PSB in television media.
• The BBC is regulated by OfQual and it also serves to uphold its own remit and values, meaning that it strives to meed the needs of the niche audiences.
• Foreign-language dramas which were once tucked away on BBC Four are now available and accepted by wider UK audiences as evident in the success of the Danish/Swedish co-production, The Bridge, on BBC 2.
• More recently on BBC 2, the critically acclaimed Giri/Haji (a British production with large proportions in Japanese) released internationally on Netflix.

The US

• In the US, PSB operates on a very small scale, often tailored to educational productions rather than competing for prime-time entertainment viewers.
• So, with the dominance of commercially-minded broadcasters in a free-market economic system, Curran and Seaton's theory definitely applies.
• In fact, for many years, a handful of big networks have dominated American television: NBS, CBS, ABC, Fox and CW television.
• Ex owner and chairman of 21st Century Fox. Rupert  Murdoch, is perhaps the most notorious media mogul of our generation and his influence on the political messages represented on TV and in the papers is massive. 

The rise of the subscription sites

• An important counter to Curran and Seaton's theory is the rise of alternative subscription and cable TV providers, most notably HBO (owned by a large media conglomerate WarnerMedia)
• This company broke from the traditional model of television by allowing audiences to pay directly for quality media products rather than making money from advertising.
• In fact, many would argue that HBO paved the way for LFTVD as we know it today, producing seminal dramas in the genre such as The Wire and The Sopranos. HBO relied on critical acclaim to generate long-term profits rather than creating superficial dramas which would get instant money from large viewing figures.
• Indeed, subscription sites provide an alternative to the television media produced by the conglomerates but, ultimately, they seek to make profit. The difference being that they focus on creative and high quality production to maximise profits.